1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to an inkless printing device. Specifically, a laser printer that forms an image on a substrate such as paper by oxidizing the substrate and/or thermally degrading the substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.
Ink has always been a vital component in the field of printing. Commonly used printers such as the ink-jet and laser printers still rely on ink and toner to complete the printing tasks. Ink jet printers typically comprise a ‘print-head’ that scans a page in horizontal strips, using the printer's motor assembly to move the ink cartridges back and forth over the paper, while it is rolled up in the vertical direction. As a row of the image is printed, the paper moves in order to print the next row. Although widely used, some issues such as paper jams, smudging of ink on the paper and slow printing speeds are inherent to ink jet printers.
Laser printers are significantly faster than traditional ink jet printers and employ a cylinder, a laser source, a fine powder called toner, a total charge source and a fuser. The surface of the cylinder has high photoconductivity. The cylinder is initially given a total charge by the total charge source and when photons impact the cylinder, it discharges the surface, and reverses the charge. The laser imprints patterns onto a drum as it revolves and the reversely charged patterns attract the powder (toner), and presses the toner onto the sheets of paper. Finally, as the paper is rolled under a heated wire called the fuser, the toners are melted and printed onto the paper.
Although laser printers achieve faster print speeds, they also have inherent disadvantages. For instance, the complex structure of the laser printer contributes to its high price and bulky size. The high cost of toners and the large energy consumption of the laser printers separate them from ideal household printers. Further, modern laser printers generate a large amount of heat during the printing process. This wasted energy negatively impacts the environment.
Furthermore, in the case of the ink spread by the ink jet printers or the toner utilized by laser printers, some kind of foreign substance is introduced onto the surface of the paper to complete the process of printing. Both the toners for the laser printers and the ink cartridges for the ink-jet printers are costly, and may have damaging effects on the environment that cannot be ignored. For example, the production and disposal of empty toner and ink cartridges leave non-biodegradable waste as well as their toxic contents.
Finally, ink is becoming one of the most expensive liquid on market, with the price increasing from $0.73 per mL to $3.00 per mL in a span of a couple of decades. In fact multi-national corporations and even individual consumers are spending more money to purchase ink and toner for their printers. Moreover, the manufacturing, packaging, and disposal of toners and ink cartridges impact negatively on the environment by contributing to the global electronic waste.